????倫敦，下一個(gè)創(chuàng)業(yè)樂(lè)園

????從東倫敦日趨活躍的“硅環(huán)島”(Silicon Roundabout)可以看出，如今英國(guó)的高科技產(chǎn)業(yè)遠(yuǎn)比Huddle創(chuàng)立時(shí)更加強(qiáng)壯。麥克洛克林說(shuō)，這種局面非常令人鼓舞。

????“我們最初創(chuàng)業(yè)時(shí)，英國(guó)的高科技產(chǎn)業(yè)規(guī)模還不夠大，”他說(shuō)?！耙恢皇志湍軘?shù)完知名的初創(chuàng)公司，比如LastMinute.com, Wonga, Mind Candy和Moo。”

????今天，倫敦高科技產(chǎn)業(yè)的景象更接近于硅谷，盡管依然小很多。麥克洛克林說(shuō)，這里是一個(gè)設(shè)立運(yùn)營(yíng)基地的好地方。

????“在倫敦運(yùn)營(yíng)大規(guī)模團(tuán)隊(duì)的成本要低得多，”他說(shuō)?！霸谶@里聘用一位天才工程師的成本大約只是硅谷的一半到三分之二。這一點(diǎn)往往會(huì)給人們帶來(lái)驚喜。另一個(gè)好處是，在英國(guó)更容易招募到東歐的人才。由于寬松的人力資源政策，科技精英可以自由流動(dòng)。而美國(guó)的人才儲(chǔ)備庫(kù)主要以本土員工為主，除非公司的規(guī)模足夠大，有財(cái)力資助外來(lái)員工?！?/p>

????麥克洛克林說(shuō)，舊金山灣區(qū)和倫敦之間逐漸呈現(xiàn)出雙向交流的趨勢(shì)。

????“美國(guó)企業(yè)，比如Yammer, Dropbox和HubSpot，已經(jīng)涌入英國(guó)和都柏林等地，開(kāi)始在這些地區(qū)建立二級(jí)工程中心，”他說(shuō)。此外，“比起印度和中國(guó)，美國(guó)跟英國(guó)和愛(ài)爾蘭的文化重合度顯然要高得多。這里是創(chuàng)建第二團(tuán)隊(duì)的好地方，對(duì)于那些有意打入歐洲市場(chǎng)的企業(yè)來(lái)說(shuō)，尤為如此?！?/p>

????盡管如此，英國(guó)仍然需要做大量的工作，才能真正打造出朝氣蓬勃的高科技創(chuàng)業(yè)景象。

????“倫敦需要一些知名的風(fēng)投資本退出案例，”麥克洛克林說(shuō)?！爸挥锌吹降谝徊ㄉ鲜谐保热鏦onga, Mind Candy或SkyScanner完成IPO，人們才會(huì)對(duì)英國(guó)和歐洲的初創(chuàng)公司更有信心，相信它們可以走完創(chuàng)業(yè)歷程，收獲成功。到那時(shí)，我們將看到更多的天使投資，更多的收購(gòu)案例，從而形成大家在硅谷時(shí)經(jīng)常看到的那種良性循環(huán)：由于有人給他們投資，他們隨后給予相應(yīng)的回報(bào)，最終實(shí)現(xiàn)各方共贏。”

????Huddle正在大張旗鼓地招募人才，麥克洛克林說(shuō)，他的最終目標(biāo)就是促使這家公司成功上市。

????“這是一段令人難以置信的旅程，”他說(shuō)。“隨著公司不斷壯大，日益成熟，每一年的工作都充滿(mǎn)了新的挑戰(zhàn)，完全不同于最初的孵化階段?，F(xiàn)在的工作重點(diǎn)在于執(zhí)行，調(diào)整，產(chǎn)品管理，真正把它變成一家具有足夠大規(guī)模的公司。誰(shuí)知道未來(lái)幾年會(huì)發(fā)生什么事情？這一幕將在未來(lái)某個(gè)時(shí)點(diǎn)出現(xiàn)，只是我現(xiàn)在還不知道具體是什么時(shí)候?！保ㄘ?cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

????譯者：葉寒

????

????Giving London a harder look

????Britain's technology scene is far more robust today than it was when Huddle was founded, with an increasingly vibrant "Silicon Roundabout" in East London. It's very encouraging, McLoughlin said.

????"When we first started in U.K., there wasn't a big tech scene," he said. "You could count the number of notable startups on one hand such as LastMinute.com, Wonga, Mind Candy, and Moo."

????Today, London's scene is much closer to -- albeit smaller than -- Silicon Valley's. It's a great place to have your base of operations, McLoughlin said.

????"London is much cheaper to run an operational team at scale," he said. "Talented engineers are anywhere between half and two-thirds of the cost in Silicon Valley. That tends to surprise people. The other benefit is the U.K. has close access to talent in Eastern Europe, and people can fly in and out because of mobility of labor. In the U.S., the talent pool is U.S. workers unless you are big enough to sponsor workers."

????It's slowly becoming more of a two-way exchange between the San Francisco Bay Area and London, McLoughlin said.

????"U.S. businesses such as Yammer, Dropbox, and HubSpot are already coming to places like the U.K. and Dublin to build out secondary engineering centers," he said. Plus, "there is a really nice cultural overlap between the U.S. and U.K. and Ireland than, say, dealing with India or China. It is the perfect place for a second team especially if you are looking to sell in to Europe."

????Still, there remains much work to be done in Britain to build out the country's burgeoning startup scene.

????"What London needs is a number of notable exits," McLoughlin said. "Seeing a few of the first wave such as Wonga, Mind Candy, or SkyScanner getting to IPO will give confidence that British and European startups can go the entire way and be successful. What we will then see is more investment through angels or acquisitions, then you get the virtuous circle you see in Silicon Valley where people make money and because someone invested in them, they return the favor."

????With more Huddle hires on way, McLoughlin says he has an eye on an eventual initial public offering.

????"It has been an incredible journey," he said. "As the company has grown and matured, it has felt like a different job each year from the initial incubation stages through the growth, and now it is all about the execution, alignment, and product management and really turning it into as big a company as we possibly can. Who knows what is going to happen in the next few years. It is going to happen at some point. I just don't know when."